Spiral
by fourwalls
Summary: Madara is reminded of Hashirama Senju upon seeing Yamato up close. He felt an overwhelming wish to kill. He decided to act upon his wish. T-for violence, spoilers on the current manga. Inspired by a madaraxtenzo fanart.
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto

Characters: Yamato, Madara/tobi, Kisame, Hachibi, some mentions of Naruto, Kabuto, Sasuke.

Spoilers on the current manga arc.

warning for some violence gore and torture

inspired by a madatenz fanart, but took a darker turn :

* * *

He knows about him. Yes, it wasn't the first time he heard of his existence or seen him, from a distance. In fact, the first time he became aware was during one of his conversations with Orochimaru, on one of the many occasions the Konoha Sannin bragged of his works. The exiled shinobi said he conducted an experiment using the shodai hokage's DNA, but the attempt failed, or that was what the snake thought.

But Tobi, or rather Madara, knew better. Because he knows everything. And yet, despite his assumed omniscience, there was one thing he didn't put into perspective, one thing he didn't predict; It was what feelings would be elicited upon seeing him up close, that close in that samurai country.

It was unsettling, unnerving, even infuriating how they resembled each other. How much he reminded him of an old, bitter past.

No, they didn't look that much alike, there are only a few features that was similar, but it was in their eyes. Eyes that hold the same fire and the same passion.

It makes him want to tear them out and crush them under his own feet.

_In good time_, Madara told himself, laughing darkly from the depths of his caves as he thought of his plans on the Wood Style user.

_All in good time._

-0-

There was a relaxed smile on Yamato's face as he gazed at the peaceful sleeping form of Naruto. It was a job well done and another mission accomplished to add to his list.

Finally, the kyuubi is under the control of the blond shinobi.

A good news it was, but despite that, it still saddened Yamato for this may mark the last mission he will have as the captain of team 7, or more accurately, the temporary captain. His abilities were no longer a necessity to suppress the tailed beast, and whatever control Naruto gained; it was considerable compared to the technique he inherited.

Too bad, he was only starting to really be at home with this team, feel like family, and Naruto was even too comfortable with him that he would pull that practical joke on him at the entrance to that holy place under the falls. He didn't like the joke one bit but it made him feel all the more welcome.

But it was the truth, he was no longer needed, that much he was sure. He may currently be the best anbu Konoha has to offer, but the title was only gained after Kakashi left, and the said man leads the original team 7. Whatever abilities and skills he has to offer, his sempai can deliver tenfold. Hell, he was certain that Naruto is stronger than him, and had been for a long time.

It was heartbreaking, but all good things have to end.

Right now, Yamato wished he smoked to give him a good excuse to head out and take breather while shaking off the depressing thoughts.

"Bee-san," Yamato started, feeling the need to get away from the confines of the four walls.

The elder Jinchuriiki lifted his head up and looked at him questioningly.

"I just need a few minutes stroll, I'll be right back."

"Sure, just take care not scare the wildlife." Be answered and stopped as if he remembered something. "Why don't you pick up some wild berries on your way back? To fill the need this awesome guy lacked?"

Yamato rolled his eyes, not again, with the rapping.

"Bee-sama." Motoi protested. "You shouldn't be too imposing on guests."

"I don't mind, really." Yamato immediately answered. "Anyway, it's on the way."

"Oh-hoh-hoh." Bee was amused, and gestured with his hands. "I didn't know rapping and rhyming was also in style in Konoha, yo!"

"Yamato sighed and shook his head. "I was not rapping."

"Yo, check this out. You're so good, I'll share you my food. Now what do you say, Bro?" The Jinchuriki pointed at him indicating it was his turn.

Yamato again rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his head. "I'll get that berry for you, Bee-san."

He motioned his hand to his chest and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

-0-

"Troublesome..." Yamato grunted to himself as he appeared on the opposite side of the wall. He can't be called an anbu captain if he hasn't mastered the art of escape. He was so happy to have left before he got pulled unto that rap contest, something that he'd be caught dead doing that he almost forgot why he went out the first place. He straightened and proceeded to walk aimlessly.

There was a small smile etched on his lips as he took in the calm of nature. It relaxed him, to hear the owls communicating with each other, the rustling of the leaves as they sway gently with the delicate wind, and the crickets joyfully sing their nightly chorus.

He always felt one with nature, being able to spontaneously and unnaturally grow trees aside. He loves the solace and tranquillity it offers. It feels that when he walks on grassy plains, or lands in tree branches, it seems to hug him, respond to him, telling him of the dangers up ahead.

He closed his eyes on his stroll, taking in what message nature was sending him.

His brows furrowed for a fraction of a second, as he was walking deep in the shadows of the forest. It was telling him to proceed with caution from here on out.

He immediately opened his eyes, as he felt that familiar tingle in his spine before encountering an enemy, and put his alert level on red. How long had he been walking?

He instinctively slid sideways, hands on the ground to maintain his balance, as he dodged three shurikens. At the same time, he raised a hand holding a kunai and blocked another shuriken making its way between his eyes.

"You are straying too far away and too alone for your own safety, Konoha shinobi." Someone from the shadows answered his unuttered question.

The stranger emerged from the shadows. Yamato's eyes widened in recognition.

"Kisame!"

"So you know about me? I guess we won't need to go through the long dreary introductions, since you obviously know about me, and I definitely now about you, Anbu captain." There was a sadistic smirk on the Akatsuki's face.

Yamato ignored his statement assuming calm facade, a more pressing matter needs to be addressed, still keeping all his guard up. "At Kage meeting, they said the Hachibi already took care of you."

"A misinformation made by yours truly. All part of the plan." Kisame answered with smug smile.

The shark-faced man took a step forward, the anbu captain raised his hands on stance. Kisame smiled, conveying to his opponent that he wasn't threatened by the man in front of him, and Yamato understood.

Yamato frowned, still wanting some answers. "How did you get through the barrier?"

This earned him a hearty chuckle from the akatsuki. "The irony is, you, or should I say your group, brought me here."

"How?"

"You just have a lot questions don't you? But that is not important. What is important is the task at hand."

"Are you here for Naruto? I won't allow you to have him." Yamato scowled at him and launched an attack swinging his kunai towards Kisame, but it was blocked by his opponent's bare hand.

Kisame shifted his hold on the kunai that now he was gripping on Yamato's wrist. Yamato jerked his hand to free himself but to no avail.

Kisame just held onto him leisurely as he answered his question. "To tell you honestly, two Jinchuriki are too much to handle even for me. You on the other hand, I won't even break a sweat." He winked at the brunette to bring his attention again to his captured arm. "I hate to break it you Yamato, or Tenzo, or whatever your name is, the kyubi kid isn't the one I am after, not right now at least."

Realization dawn on the anbu captain, and suddenly, Kisame had another Kunai swinging at him from another Yamato. Then another went flying at him with an explosive tag.

Kisame ducked and evaded the explosion and looked at the person whose hand he captured and realized it was a wood clone transforming into a lifeless log. The real Yamato was flipping back distancing himself from the akatsuki, and with a swift motion, he planted his hand on the soil.

Sharp branches shot from the earth and aimed towards Kisame.

Using a suiton technique, Kisame blasted himself away from the branches that are rapidly catching up on him. He concentrated chakra on his feet and swiftly burst towards Yamato, a kunai poised on his hand to strike.

Yamato disconnected from the soil, used his one hand as a leverage and kicked the approaching Kisame. He hooked his other leg on Kisame's hand which was holding the kunai and managed to dislodge it. With the kunai still spinning on the air, Yamato used his momentum, caught the weapon and threw it at the akatsuki.

Kisame, who was still sliding back from the force of the kick shifted his head sharply to the right, and the flying kunai missed its target which was right in the middle of his neck, but it still managed to graze him.

There was a pause between the two fighters as they tried to recalculate each other. But there was a cruel smile on Kisame's face as he gave Yamato a once over.

"My my," Kisame said with a mocking laugh, "I'm having more fun than what I have expected. It seems that I have underestimated you, although it would be a different story if I have my katana with me, so don't be too proud of yourself."

He again launched an attack on Yamato, swinging is foot at him but only hitting air. He performed hand seals and chanted a suiton jutsu, a torrent of water rose in front of Kisame and threatened to swallow Yamato and everything within a mile of him.

Yamato doubled back and performed a series of hand seals to counter the Suiton attack by Kisame. He slapped his hands to the ground just in time, and thick wall of wood emerged, a mile in length and five stories high.

The wood wall creaked and cracks were forming from the pressure of the wave behind it. It was going to give way. Yamato infused more chakra on the soil and another wall popped in front of him. When he felt that the suiton was no longer assaulting his wall, he leaned back a little from his squatting position and panted.

Yamato felt a presence behind him and turned sharply around. Kisame was behind him and was aiming a kunai at his shoulder. This time, Yamato was not fast enough to evade. The knife plunged between his shoulder blades and he was pinned against the wall he created.

Another Kisame appeared beside him and made another series of seals, it enclosed Yamato in a water prison, paralyzed, unmoving.

The Kisame in front of him pulled the kunai and his blood rushed from his open wound. The Akatsuki stood back and admired his handiwork.

"You know," the Hidden Mist shinobi started, "The fight would have been longer if you did not invest all your chakra in that wall. Your mistake was, you wanted so much to protect what was behind you, as I predicted you would."

Yamato's eyeball moved and strained. He cannot breathe. He struggled to move within that water prison, and his enemy noticed it.

"What? There something you want to say?" Kisame mocked and shrugged. "Very well."

Yamato was released from the water prison but was immediately bound by a rope treated with some ninjustu. The water clone of the akatsuki disappeared.

"What do you want from me?" Yamato asked coughing and gasping for breath.

"Me? I don't want anything from you."

"By now, they would have noticed already. They'll come here and they'll find you."

Kisame laughed again. "Sure, they'll come here, but they won't be fast enough to be here before we take you."

Yamato glared at him. "You can never get me out of this barrier undetected. They _will_ get you."

His threat fell into deaf ears, as the shark only smirked at his threat. The space beside Kisame warped and swivelled and another akatsuki appeared.

"You!" Yamato spat.

Madara leisurely walked towards the bound anbu captain, had his mask been off, they would have seen his infuriating smile. "By now, you should know, that the barrier was never a problem."

And Yamato understood from the moment the space beside Kisame churned, that he was as good as dead. The last thing he remembered before falling into darkness was staring into a blood red eye, and a hypnotizing pattern spinning like eternity.

-0-

Yamato thought it was all only a bad dream, until his senses slowly seeped through and he felt the cold metal cuffs around his wrist. He shifted and felt a sharp pain on his back from the strain from hanging with your arms for hours.

Now he knows it was all real.

He tried to open his eyes but they were too heavy and clouded. He groaned in frustration.

"Sleeping beauty finally wakes up."

He recognized the voice. Kisame...

His eyes were forcefully pried open, and there was a harsh assault of light from one eye to the next.

"He's conscious and his pupils are responsive." A voice he remembered from somewhere said.

Yamato painfully blinked his eyes, and took some time to readjust his vision to the surrounding. After slowly opening his eyes, he noticed that the room he was in was dark, the only light probably coming from candles judging from how the shadows flickered beneath him. He also noted the lack of clothing of his upper body, something most torturers do to create a feeling of vulnerability, and easy access to the victim's skin.

He followed the movement of the person who shone light to his eyes and he saw a familiar white hair. It took his still clouded mind some time to recall who that person was.

Kabuto.

He slowly lifted up his head to see his audience. Kisame was there leaning at the doorway with malevolence evident in his smirk. Kabuto's back was on him, saying he was disinterested. Sasuke was also there, expression unreadable.

But it was who was sitting in the middle that caught all of his attention. His face may be hidden but the aura that he was seeping out was nothing short of deathly, evil, sadistic.

"Leave us." Tobi uttered in a tone that demanded no objections.

One by one, they shuffled out. Kisame lingered a few seconds longer and then left as well, but the smile was still plastered on his face, as if telling Yamato he knows what his fate would be.

Yamato did not need to ask him or told, for he knows as well, as he had been a facilitator and observer of many tortures and interrogations.

His eyes swept to a metal table a few feet away from where he was hanging. There were various assortments of blades and scalpels laid on top of it. There were also items that he can only imagine what purpose they serve. Some were spirals with pointed tips, others, were really hard to describe.

Madara followed his line of sight and chuckled. "Does it scare you Tenzou?"

Yamato slowly looked at him and only narrowed his eyes. No trace of fear can be outwardly seen; He was trained to do this, trained to endure this, and trained to die without breaking.

"I won't tell you anything." Yamato spat.

"Oh? You really have the will of fire burning in you." Madara sounded amused. "But, I am not here to ask questions, nor are you here to answer them."

Confusion swept over the anbu. "Then what am I here for?"

"You will soon find out." The Uchiha walked closer, he gestured towards the metal table. "And don't worry about those items, I won't be needing them." He stopped and smiled at Yamato, "That doesn't mean that you don't have anything to fear."

Madara slowly removed his akatsuki coat and placed it on the protrusion on the wall. He ceremoniously removed his mask as well and turned to face the mokuton user.

Yamato widened his eyes. Apart from the bags under his eyes, the man looked as if he never aged. It made him think of all the forbidden jutsu that he must have performed and the amount of people he might have killed and experimented on to achieve this supposed immortality. His vague memories of Orochimaru and his experimentations came back to him.

It made his blood curl.

"I suppose I expected that reaction." Madara said, a smile etched on his lips. "I can see everything, know everything that you are thinking with _this._" He pointed at his sharingan. "I want you to see, how delighted I am, once I am done with you."

"What do you want from me?" Yamato asked.

Madara was only a foot away from him now, scrutinizing him inch by inch. "You really remind me of him. How sickening."

The Elder man ran a hand gently through his face and rested it on his neck. His face contorted into a hateful grimace and his grip tightened around Yamato's neck.

Yamato trashed after a few minutes of deprivation of breath, pulling on the chains that bound him. He bled in the place where his wrists were cuffed as the metal cut through his skin. His vision was already dimming, until he was convulsing.

Madara loosened his grip and Yamato took in a sharp breath. He coughed his lungs out.

Yamato panted. The blood from his wrists were slowly trickling down his arms.

"You didn't think I'd let you go out that easy, wouldn't you now Senju?" The Uchiha said.

Yamato understood now why the infamous akatsuki targeted him. It made him all the more furious. "You can torture me all you want, you can cut me up into ribbons, but it does not change the fact that you will never win against Shodaime Hokage Hashirama Senju. You will never gain control of the world, nor will you extinguish the fire that burns inside people against tyrants like you."

Madara's face became unrecognizable in his anger, but suddenly he smiled wickedly. He even has Hashirama's sentiments."Interesting. I am going to thoroughly enjoy this, Tenzo."

He clutched the bare skin on Yamato's chest and dug his fingers on it, until it tore the skin. He pulled forcefully and was able to rip half a foot of skin.

Yamato screamed in agony. Blood was pooling fast underneath their feet.

"Are you still that brave, Tenzou?" Madara uttered his name in a singsong tune, clearly to aggravate him more.

Yamato vision was already swaying, the room seems to be shifting, but he conjured up enough strength to look Madara in the eye, and spit at his face.

Madara laughed darkly and wiped the saliva from his face. He held Yamato tightly by the jaw and locked him in a kiss. Yamato jerked his head away in disgust, but Madara held firmly.

Yamato felt a searing pain on his throat. There was a liquid substance that was being passed to him. He tried to spit it out, but his torturer held his mouth tightly and pinched his nose, to force him to swallow.

Yamato started to feel some tingling and burning pain on his fingertips, then it travelled down to his body, until it covered his entirety. The pain was unbearable.

Tears fell from his eyes, as the agony consumed him. He bit his lip to stop himself from screaming.

Madara took a step back to admire what he has done. He smiled as the venom he passed did it's work. "Impressive," he said after a while, "most shinobi would have died after ingesting that venom, but look at you," he gestured at Yamato's exhausted self, "still alive, and awake, after all that. There may be more to you than I thought."

Tenzou was just too tired to say anything anymore. His eyelids were too heavy now, all he wanted was to close them and submit to the darkness that was so eagerly calling him. But he refuses and tries to keep himself awake, his eyes barely open, just to defy Madara.

He will never bow to Madara, even if bowing meant dying.

"I told you I can tell what's in your mind. Go ahead. Sleep. Death is calling."

Yamato willed his eyes to open and with all the strength a dying man had, glared at him.

"Why are you so stubborn? You think your insolence would insult me? Have you forgotten who you are standing with? You are inconsequential, insignificant on the grander scheme of things."

Yamato coughed trying to get a word out.

Madara narrowed his eyes at his attempt.

"And... yet..." Yamato managed to rasp out, in between coughs, every word excruciating like a thousand needles to his throat, "here you are... wasting... time and energy... clearly upset by something... so inconsequential."

Madara cackled madly. "Ironic isn't it, but a very astute observation. Because right now, I have a need that only you satisfy. No one else."

"Only low life's... resort to what you do." Yamato whispered and closed his eyes. He was at his limit, and can no longer bear the strain.

Madara squinted at him, and held Yamato's face. It was slack, unmoving, but still alive. The Uchiha kicked his leg with so much force, you can hear the stomach churning crack.

Yamato could only groan in pain, not even having enough strength to properly protest. But there were tears flowing from his eyes, and his sweat constantly drenching his battered body.

"I guess this is your limit, and this is all you can offer. It was a pleasure."

Yamato managed to open his eyes one last time, just in time to see Madara's hand making its way to his chest. He heard the crunch if his ribcage and the wet splutter of blood as the akatuki's hand tore through his chest. He could only think that his heart was held by those cursed hands, as it was slowly beating away. He felt his fingertips go cold and numb, all the pain from his body dying out.

The sensation of dying was welcomed than what he previously went through, as it erased all evidence of pain.

He smiled as his vision tunnelled and shrink until there was only darkness and nothingness.

"Tough guy." Kisame said from behind Madara.

Madara turned his masked face on the fellow Akatsuki."He was more entertaining than I expected." He turned his gaze on the uninjured Anbu captain, hands hanging on the metal chains. He was unconscious.

The man was able to survive the genjutsu of his mangekyo sharingan. It was remarkable, even by Uchiha standards.

Behind his mask, Madara gave a lopsided grin. "He would not know what hit him when he wakes up. I'll be pushing him more." He explained.

Kisame just shrugged. "Poor guy, don't want to be in his place right now."

"Or anytime in the future." Madara added, for he has plans, lots of plans. Where Yamato will not be able to distinguish the line between illusion and reality, but all of them, even more torturous and severe than what he had before.

* * *

Comments? Reviews are highly appreciated. SO how did you find the fic? Too dark? still lacking blood?

It was weird, when I was writing the Kisame Yamato fight, it took me too long, (fights are really difficult to put into words), but when I was in the Madara Tenzo torture scene, words flew out of my head into my hands. It all felt too natural.

I tried to keep them as close to how I pictured their characters would be. Sorry for hurting Yamato that much, I still love him...


	2. Chapter 2

**Part II: Further Down the Spiral.**

_As the mists receded from his mind, he felt the usual stirrings of pain, and as usual, he banished them. The mind was a strange and powerful thing, and after all those years of imprisonment and torture, he had learned to use it as a weapon. A defensive weapon, but a weapon nevertheless, one with which he could counter at least some of what his enemies had tried to accomplish. _

_They could break his body, and they had, but his spirit and his mind, though damaged, were still his own._

_-Jaqcues the Molay_

_The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury._

_..._

The sound that assaulted Tenzo's hearing could be comparable to a merciless onslaught in his opinion. It was worsened by the fact that the steady downpour of heavy rain added to that monotony of dull sounds. The sky was close to black owing to the heavy clouds that blanketed the sky in an uncomforting manner, as though it foretold an even more ominous future. It was only fifteen minutes past three in the afternoon.

A flash of lightning tore through the overcast sky and snapped Tenzo out of his trance. He scowled at the horizon for snapping him out of the rather comfortable nothingness and bringing him back to his painful reality.

The sounds within the room again filled up his senses. Tenzo slowly removed his gaze from the window, and swept his dark tired eyes over the machines that took residence in the hospital room. He watched the green and red lines tracing what would be the electrical impulse generated by the heart, and then cast his gaze on the rise and fall of the mechanical ventilator bellows. They had a regular interval, so there was nothing to worry about, the medical nin informed Tenzo thirty minutes earlier. He watched it and couldn't help but time his breathing with every ticking sound.

He wouldn't have bothered had it all been connected to him. But as he moved his gaze from the machine to the tube that was invading Kakashi's mouth, all he felt was anger for himself and for his actions. Never in his life did he dream he would harm his captain in any way, unless there was absolutely no alternative. Yet, here was his captain, Hatake Kakashi, his skin almost the colour of his hair, unmoving, barely breathing, fighting for his life.

It was the doing of his own two hands. Kakashi didn't even do anything to remotely deserve it.

He never was one to ask for death no matter how desperate or miserable the situation may be, but now, his mind was playing with the thought. No, he was absolutely not like that.

He would hunt down Uchiha Madara if it's the last thing he did.

Tenzo heard his maniacal sardonic laughter at the back of his head and his eyes shot across the room to search for the sickening sound and before realizing there was no one there. It was only him, and the unconscious Kakashi.

He closed his eyes and swallowed hard as he pushed the voice back to the depths of his troubled mind. He ground his teeth at the same time to stop himself from screaming in rage and frustration.

He settled his head on top of his knee and watched the deluge of rain. Not a single tear fell from his dark weary eyes. He let the heavens do that for him.

-0-

Tenzo opened his eyes as heard the familiar footsteps closing in. He wasn't asleep, no; it just took too much effort to keep his eye open. Only a few seconds more and Madara would undoubtedly enter this chamber, his chamber.

It already felt like he had been held captive for years, but he knew better. He knew how the genjutsu worked, elongating time in which a minute could feel like eternity. From what he could tell, he had only been here for barely a week and yet from the weariness overtaking him, it felt as if he had already aged 10 long years.

He could not tell how long he would last and wished some force could alter this agonizing routine.

He sat in the corner, skin exposed except for the torn trousers that he was wearing. The stone he was sitting on was cold, but he never attempted to hug his exposed body to help with the shivering. He told himself that he would not allow his tormentor the satisfaction. Not in this lifetime.

"Do you want to have him tied up?" A muffled voice said from outside his door. It sounded familiar, but his memories seemed too hazy to properly recall. It all seemed too distant.

"No need." A low voice growled. Tenzo immediately recognized who it was.

The dim light that came from the small flames of the candle flickered as the air shifted and the bolts creaked. He would have stood up defiantly had he any strength left. Instead he settled with narrowing his eyes upon his unwelcomed guest.

Madara entered and a bright light assaulted Tenzo's eyes, already too accustomed to the darkness. He still glared despite the bright beams bringing him a searing headache.

The villain walked towards him leisurely slowly removing his mask to reveal his delighted grin to the young shinobi glaring at him. He unceremoniously tossed him his tray of food.

The door was left open behind him.

"Eat." The Akatsuki commanded.

Tenzo looked at the food tray in front of him, then back at his captor. He turned his face away in silence, down to the ground, his jaw tightening at the same time.

He heard the shuffling of cloth and he caught the movement of Madara squatting in front of him, through his peripheral vision. He felt methodical eyes study him.

The Uchiha clicked his tongue in disapproval, like a parent to his child. "How would you keep your strength if you don't get the proper nourishment?" He mocked. "Look at you, you're skin and bones."

Tenzo could hear an appalling smile as it crept through his words, and pretended he could not hear anything. Without any warning, he felt a forceful hand cup at his jaw, and his face was painfully jerked to face front. He was now only mere inches from the detestable being. He coudn't even bring himself to think that this was a man. He caught himself staring once again at the red which filled his eyes. How many times had he looked through it, he coudn't begin to tell.

"Believe me Tenzo," Madara said with his voice dipping low, his hand gripped tightly on the captain's jaw, the sadistic smirk still plastered on his face, "I wouldn't have second thoughts on forcing it down on your throat if it would mean that I could enjoy you longer. If you'd prefer the more torturous approach, then I'd be more than happy to give it."

Tenzo tried to open his mouth but the grip on his jaw was too tight.

Madara noticed the effort and loosened his grip slightly. "Is there something you want to say?"

"Yeah." He started with a whisper. "Fuck you."

The Akatsuki's eyes widened, and he erupted in a jovial laughter, Tenzo simply watched him in resentment. After his bout of laughter, he wiped a finger across his eye as if to wipe joyous tears.

"You still have a lot of fight in you. I like it. But let's see how you'll get through this. You can come in now." Madara addressed the person outside without looking away.

It all happened in slow motion in his eyes from when he saw that familiar tuft of white hair. He couldn't bring himself to believe who it was who was entering. His breath lodged at his throat. He did not know if he should feel relieved or feel frightened with his presence. Slowly, the man brought himself into full view and stood by the doorway.

"Sempai." Tenzo breathed, as he fumbled to get Madara's hand off his face. He shouldn't have come. He shouldn't have looked for him. It wasn't worth it. He wasn't worth it.

He wrenched the Uchiha's hold and fell to the floor, face down. He used his hands to support himself and he looked up at Kakashi still standing by the doorway. "Sempai! Get out of here, now. Don't worry about me! Run!" He screamed.

But after he had spoken those words he felt something wrong, terribly wrong. Kakashi did not move, or even flinch. He was still there staring coldly at Tenzo's trembling body. He felt his gut wrench.

Madara stood from his squatting position, and shook his head with a smile on his face. He sauntered to where Kakashi was standing. It made Tenzo's heart skip a beat, for fear for his captain.

"Kakashi isn't going anywhere, my dear Tenzo, are you?"

Kakashi shook his head. "Of course not."

"Why don't you tell your kohai your reason for being here?"

Kakashi stayed silent, expression unreadable.

"What is he talking about?" Tenzo demanded. He could feel his insides churning. Something was not right about this, he could feel his every nerve screaming at him. He tried to push himself up against the floor, but his arms shook and he came crashing back down.

He again heard Madara's sickening titter. "You've already figured it out, haven't you?"

"He's not real." Tenzo growled.

"You can believe that if you want to."

"It's your sharingan."

"How sure are you?" Kakashi answered, and he found himself looking up again at him, studying him.

Kakashi walked closer to him and brought out a kunai and slashed through his open palm. Blood trickled on the floor before him, and some of it fell on his skin. It was warm, like how blood should be.

"I am as real as the sensation you are feeling right now. You can even feel my chakra, can't you."

Tenzo's broken nails dug on the floor, he couldn't believe it.

"Are you convinced my little Senju?" Madara uttered again the nickname that he seemed to awfully enjoy with him. "As you have already figured out, he's here to help me. Should we start?" He said turning to Kakashi.

The white haired shinobi gestured to lift his forehead protector to reveal his sharingan. It was already starting to swirl into a different pattern.

"You're not real." Tenzo muttered more to himself than to the man in front of him.

"I think his breakfast is the best way to begin." Madara said walking to his meal tray.

Tenzo grit his teeth and summoned all the strength he had. He performed hand seals as fast as he could and wood shot out from the ground aiming squarely at the akatsuki member.

He felt a gentle tap on his shoulder and twisted to look. A ball of lightning was aiming straight for his chest.

-0-

Kakashi silently landed on the wet ground and swiftly pressed his bank against the large willow tree a few feet from the cave's entrance. He narrowed his eyes to look at the darkened entryway, trying to sense any presence through his sharingan.

He had been looking for him for over a month now. Not one lead taking him to the right direction, until they came across this. The Raikage and his jinchuuriki brother had been kind enough to offer assistance in their search and it was they who got him this lead only a week ago. They told him by a stroke of sheer luck, of having been able to capture that plant looking being named Zetsu, and they did not let go of the opportunity.

Apparently, Zetsu was spying on Killer Bee, gathering information to re-capture the 8 tails. A high ranking hidden lightning sensor was able to point out his location and they stealthily inched closer and it was far too late and far too outnumbered to make its escape. Their black ops interrogated him afterwards which resulted in his death, but not after they had got the location of where the mokuton user was currently being held.

Kakashi wanted to follow this trail alone. He reasoned that it would be a simple extraction and the fewer people going on the search, the more likely that the attempt would go undetected. But Tsunade insisted that he take his team with him for it would be no less than a suicide mission if he had been discovered by the akatsuki. He found Tsunade's fears to be only logical, but he'd decided not put anyone else in danger.

'_I'd rather not lose another good shinobi in that small amount of time." She explained. "We had been on the losing streak lately. First Asuma, then Jiraiya, and now Tenzo? I am not about to risk more. We aren't even sure if he's still alive."_

But he could feel it in his gut that he still was. Tenzo was a survivor. He wouldn't die so easily. If Orochimaru's experimentation on him wasn't enough testimony to that, then their years together in the anbu would be.

Kakashi brought a fist up to signal the rest of his team to stand by. Surely, he caught a glimpse of them landing nimbly on tree branches and waiting. He waited a little longer until he heard his portable radio come alive with static.

"We are in position." It was Gai on the other end of the line.

Kakashi scanned the entrance once more and he moved his hand to the button strapped on his neck. "Alright," he said into the mouthpiece, "we are moving in, you know the drill."

"Roger that."

Naruto, Sakura landed next to him, as did Sai- his scroll on the ready. He laid it on the floor and whispered. "Chojou giga."

A horde of ink rats emerged from the paper and made their way to the entrance.

Kakashi nodded his head to his team and they proceeded to the entrance, hastily, but without a single sound. They stopped upon entering to notice that the cave forked into four. Sparing a moment to look at each other, they split up without a sound.

Kakashi kept close to the wall using the shadow to conceal himself as he moved. Something felt oddly out of place, not that entering enemy territory was anything but troubling. But this one was different, he couldn't feel anything, there was not movement. No one was there.

Kakashi frowned thinking that they might have lost them again and perhaps they had moved to another secret location. Still he advanced into the darkness.

"Team A, what is your status?"

"I've reach my end of the corridor, he's not here Sensei." Sakura's voice sounded disappointed.

"Nothing here as well."

"Same goes for me Kakashi-sensei."

"Copy that."

"I'm returning to the rendezvous point sensei." Sakura said.

Kakashi peered around a corner and found another empty corridor. "Sai, Naruto, you too. Wait for further instructions. Team B?

"Nothing suspicious on our side, if you don't count the unsettling silence." Gai answered.

Kakashi didn't say anything further instead he continued to pad along the new found corridor still keeping to the walls. He began to lose hope as the passage's end came into view but there was something on the far side, he could smell it. It was a combination of blood, grit and filth, exactly what one would expect from a torture chamber. He was certain of it now.

It took all his self control to keep himself from rushing towards the cell."Still have to be cautious," he reminded himself, it could be a trap. He turned his head left and right to see if there was anyone following him and saw none. He ran soundlessly and halted a just before the entry to the chamber. He found it that the door was open. Without breaking his stride, he leaned against the wall and advanced slowly. He looked cautiously around the corner to see what was inside.

His eyes widened at the sight.

There in the room was Tenzo, covered in what seemed to be dirt, or probably excreta, and what he assumed to be his own caked blood. But he was not dead, no he was wide awake.

"Tenzou." Kakashi whispered, but not loud enough to be heard.

His eyes were bloodshot, and there was something disturbing about the way he just stared blankly on the ground. His clothes were torn, presumably the ones he left in, and his feet were bare. It surprised Kakashi that he looked like he only lost a few pounds considering the length of time he had been held captive, his muscles didn't show any sign of atrophy. His hair was longer but it was a tangled mess.

What disturbed Kakashi more was why in his apparent strength, did he not leave, when the doors were left wide open, and he wasn't shackled.

Kakashi again motioned to his radio. "I found him. We are on the eastern corridor."

For a moment no one responded, that Kakashi thought they might have come across some hostiles. Kakashi debated whether to rush towards them or bring in Tenzo first. Then he heard the static, and Sakura's voice trembling from what seems to be relief and excitement.

"Copy that Kakashi-sensei, we are on our way."

He brought his hand down and after another check on the vicinity; he emerged from hiding and revealed himself to his imprisoned comrade.

Tenzo caught the movement and turned to look at him. He looked like he hadn't slept for days judging from the dark circles around his eyes. He stared but it seemed as if he was looking straight through him.

"Come Tenzo," Kakashi walked closer, avoiding the obvious question as to Tenzo's well being. "Let's get you out of here."

"Don't come any closer." His kohai moaned. It was hollow, unrecognizable that Kakashi stopped in his tracks.

"We have to move out now." Kakashi's tone rang with unmasked urgency.

Tenzo laughed darkly. "I will not fall for this again. Not this time."

"Not fall for what?" His answer left Kakashi perplexed. What was wrong with him?

Tenzo stopped laughing then looked at him intently. There were signs of rage within his bloodshot eyes, rage directed at him, but he had no idea why. His instincts told him to be on the defensive.

He felt the air behind him move, and Kakashi ducked just in time to dodge the kick that was aimed at him. He realized he had been talking to a clone as the real Tenzo emerged darkly from the clay wall.

"Tenzo, what the hell is going on?"

Kakashi spotted that Tenzo now held a kunai, it wasn't there a few seconds ago. He felt for his weapons bag and reached in. Sure enough, one was missing.

"You've gotten better at it Madara. I would have believed it was Kakashi-sempai had you done this the first time. You are not fooling me this time."

Kakashi's eyes widened at the realization. Tenzo must have been pulled into the genjutsu of the mangekyo multiple times. It sickened him to think what methods the akatsuki might have used for Tenzo to think that he was Madara. That son of a bitch.

He could not stand the thought of what he had done to a comrade, and more to a brother.

"Tenzo," Kakashi carefully started. "It's me, Hatake Kakashi. I'm your captain, your fellow combatant, and your friend. I won't do anything to harm you."

Tenzo just stood there still poised to attack. It was evident that he was taking in every word but there was no sign of belief. His eyes remained hard, narrowed.

"I can prove to you that I am not Madara. Just put your weapon down."

"I want to believe it so bad."

The next second, Tenzo disappeared and emerged again behind him. Kakashi turned just in time to duck and miss the kunai which was making its way to his skull. Tenzo swung at Kakashi's legs and he tumbled to the ground. He saw the kunai inching closer to his chest and he knew he would be too slow to escape. It connected and his eyes bulged.

Tenzo rose slowly from the lifeless body of Hatake Kakashi. His breathing was labored, as if the sight pained him. Kakashi's body then turned to a log, a substitution jutsu.

Before Tenzo had the time to react, someone grabbed his wrist from behind and slammed him against the wall. Blood dripped from the point where his head made contact. He was held firmly and couldn't move.

"I would not want to hurt you Tenzo," Kakashi gritted pinning him against the wall, "but you are leaving me without a choice. I should have expected this." He muttered the latter to himself. His hand remained on Tenzo's arm as he held him in place while the other travelled to his chest. He felt a small gash from where the kunai struck.

"So are you finally going to show yourself?" Tenzo said. "Give it your best shot. I'm ready."

Kakashi understood that he was still talking to him as though he was Madara. "Tenzou, I _am_ Hatake Kakashi, former team 3 anbu captain, current team Kakashi captain." The man beneath him squirmed and he only held on tighter. "I saw you when you were left to die by Orochimaru, only you know that I was there. My father was one of those who infiltrated Orochimaru's lab and I followed them. I was the only one other than my father and Jiraiya who saw what was there."

Tenzo stopped and relaxed under him. "But you can read what is in my mind." He breathed.

Kakashi shook his head. "The sharingan cannot do that, at least mine can't." He loosened his grip on Tenzo a little. "Believe me, I am not Madara, can't you feel my chakra?"

Tenzo again suddenly tensed, and he slammed his head against Kakashi. The sudden impact jarred him, and the mokuton user successfully escaped his grip. Tenzo swiftly turned and in time with his movement brought a fist into Kakashi's stomach.

The white haired shinobi slid a few paces back, wide eyed and confused. He thought he already got through him.

"Feel you chakra?" Tenzo snarled. "That had fooled me for the last time."

In that moment, Naruto, Sakura, and Sai had arrived.

"Yamato-taicho." Sakura started with a smile, but halted immediately as she took in the scene before her.

Tenzo's frown went deeper. "So you are bringing in the whole team now? You disgust me."

"Kakashi-sensei, what is going on?" Naruto asked.

"He thinks that were are generated by Madara's mangekyo." Kakashi answered.

"What?"

"He thinks we are part of a genjutsu." Sai explained further.

Tenzo watched them warily not breaking his concentration. His legs were already starting to wobble from the effort.

Sakura had been examining him over since the minute she arrived and saw all the injuries that covered her captain's body. She also noticed how he looked like he was about to fall over. "I've got to heal him." She said to herself as she leapt towards him.

"No!" Kakashi screamed and reached out for her.

Tenzo clapped his palms together and wood shot out from the ground and slapped Sakura to the wall. She bounced against it with such a force that it resounded in the entire corridor. She fell unconscious to the ground.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto roared. He started to illuminate, and he looked like he was wreathed in white fire. He was transforming to become the kyubi.

"Naruto, stand back! I'll handle him." Kakashi said turning his head only slightly but not letting Tenzo out of his sight.

"But..."

"The Kyubi form is too much. You'll kill him. It's not his fault. We are here to bring him back. I'll neutralize him and capture him. Sai, go grab the tranquilizer on Sakura's pack, it is the one with a dark blue cap. Naruto, contact Team Gai."

"I got ya." Naruto answered.

Before the plan could be enacted, Tenzo charged against Kakashi, another wood clone emerged from behind him. He threw punches at him, while Kakashi timed his blocks perfectly. He could see the wood clone from the corner of his eyes as it materialized behind Tenzo, and watched it as it head towards Sai. It grabbed on to the tanto and made a horizontal slash. Sai ducked quick enough to avoid the decapitating blow. Sai and the clone exchanged blows as well, he could only hope that Sai was fast enough, or that Tenzo was weak enough at the moment.

Kakashi heard a blade whistling fast against the air. Tenzo moved abruptly sideways and Kakashi' eyes widened as he saw the tanto flying towards him. Kakashi immediately drew out a kunai and blocked the blade. He saw Naruto rush over to help Sai who was already desperately defending himself.

Tenzo caught the tanto mid air and slashed vertically only missing Kakashi by a few centimetres as he bent backwards. The wood clone behind Tenzo was already defeated and he saw Sai and Naruto running to his aid. Tenzo must have felt it too, immediately forming hand seals. Kakashi recognized this particular technique; it was rarely used by Tenzo.

"Wood style: Serpentine death technique."

The ground beneath them trembled.

"Naruto, Sai, get Sakura and get out of here."Kakashi commanded with perceptible unease. "Now!"

There was no opposition from either of them and Naruto proceeded to take hold of Sakura. He quickly produced a pair of shadow clones and they started forming the rasengan. "What about you, Kakashi sensei?"

Kakashi looked around him. Jagged wooden spikes were already emerging from the ground. There was simply no way for him to reach his team. "I'll be fine."

The spikes shot their way towards the three; Naruto immediately punched his rasengan through the ceiling. It opened up to the outside and they immediately went for it.

Kakashi held his wrist tightly and the chidori formed on his palm. He looked back at Tenzo who was already kneeling and breathing heavily. Kakashi looked above him and using the wall as leverage, ran against it, and punched his lightning powered hand against the ceiling. The gigantic wooden spears were already closing in.

He made an opening wide enough for him to fit through, and was already pulling himself up when he felt a stabbing pain against his back. _Shit, it got him_, he thought. He looked and saw a steel blade projecting from his chest. He squinted in confusion and looked back, and there was Tenzo, using his own jutsu to keep him up, holding tightly onto Sai's tanto which was now pierced clean through Kakashi's body.

His eyes were still bloodshot, but he could see he was close to crying, for water was already brimming his dark eyes.

"Why don't you transform back already." He said as he twisted the blade in Kakashi's chest. "I've got you. Please," his voice was pleading, "stop this game already."

"I'm sorry to break it to you kohai," Kakashi voice was gentle, only above a whisper but slightly reprimanding, "this time, I'll not be transforming back."

Then his vision clouded over, and turned black.

Tenzo could feel the warm blood drip against his cold hands. He was still holding on to the tanto, he twisted it, and sure enough more blood flowed.

"I'm sorry to break it to you kohai," he barely heard him say, "this time, I'll not be transforming back."

He felt numbness spread towards his body with the last words this Kakashi said to him. The whole event came rushing back in and his eyes widened in horror. He cradled Kakashi in his arms and mustered all his strength so that he could land gently on the floor. His leg buckled beneath him, but he used his body to cushion Kakashi's fall. His wood technique was already returning to the ground.

He shook Kakashi in an effort to wake him up.

"Oh God no." His words hitched on his throat. "No. Wake up please." But Kakashi's eyes remained closed.

He planned it. Madara planned it all along. He knew that for certain.

"Naruto!" Tenzo screamed. "Wake Sakura up and get her down here immediately."

Naruto looked through the opening and rushed to where Sakura was resting. Tenzo put a hand to the wound and applied pressure to slow the bleeding. He was still alive, he can feel his pulse and the flow of chakra. "Sakura!" he screamed again.

Within moments Sakura landed beside him, a green glow already illuminating her palms.

Tenzo moved to the side and watched helplessly as Sakura performed emergency medical techniques. She glanced at his questioningly and her gaze fell on his bloodied hand. She turned back to Kakashi, squinting in concentration. He saw how she was trying to keep her tears at bay.

He sat there without any strength left. What he'd done was inexcusable.

He felt four more shinobi land next to him and felt their eyes on him. Then his mind turned blank. He fell unaware of what was happening around him.

All that went through his mind was Madara's maddening laughter, as it echoed endlessly on his mind. Then his words came back to him:

"_I told you I know what is in your mind. I know how you think. I know how you'll react."_

...

...

...

-0-

The alarms on the heart monitor resounded and Tenzo looked back up again from the window. In the monitor, he saw that the tracings became a uniform jagged pattern.

A nurse rushed in to check all the contraptions connected to Kakashi and ran towards the door. "Code Blue. Code Blue." She screamed. "I need the crash cart."

He heard multiple feet hastening over.

Four medical shinobi stood on four corners of the room and performed hand seals. It seemed to be a chakra transferring technique.

Naruto, Sakura and Sai also stepped carefully inside to check on their sensei. Sakura's eyes were brimming with tears. She know exactly what Code Blue means.

The cart was opened and syringes were brought out. Ampules were broken and the liquid medicine was drawn to the syringe. "First dose of epinephrine ready." A nurse said.

A doctor assumed command. "Administer epinephrine via intravenous line." He glanced at the heart monitor. "Prepare the defibrillator."

Then the heart reading flat-lined and immediately one of the nurse pulled a wooden board and placed it under Kakashi.

"Sir you'd have to leave." The doctor told Tenzo. "You too." He said referring to the rest of the team. The three did as they were told. Sakura was now crying on Naruto's shoulder who was patting him on the back.

Tenzo could not tear his eyes away from what was being done to Kakashi. He couldn't even say anything. The doctor gently led him to the door.

"We are going to do everything we can." The doctor said as he closed the door.

The last thing Tenzo saw was a male nurse climbing over Kakashi's bed, and starting to pump his chest trying to force his heart to beat.

Tenzo heard Sakura's whimper beside him and Naruto's reassuring words. He wanted to comfort them as well, but he felt he had no right to since he had practically killed their sensei.

He looked them over. He saw Naruto biting his lip forcing himself not to cry. The young shinobi was not looking at him, obviously still too angry over what had happened, what he'd done. Sai only stared at him, but there was a hint of accusation that he felt was directed at him.

Tenzo looked sideways but refused to gaze on one area. He walked out of the hospital keeping his gaze away from that laughing man. He had not the heart to wait for the result Kakashi's resuscitation. Not with him watching. He'd learn eventually.

He walked the streets of Konoha, feeling all eyes on him. All hateful condemning eyes, except for one who look all amused with what was happening. It was the same man that laughed at him at the hospital. It all felt like his days at the academy again, when people learned of his 'borrowed techniques', and Orochimaru seemed to be the one laughing. He ignored them, if they tried to attack him, he won't fight, and he was unconsciously praying that they would.

Tenzo reached his apartment, not really sure how he got there. His mind was all vacant now. He no longer thought of anyone, or anything, nor had he tried to feel. Except for one thing.

Tenzo curled himself on the bed, refusing to look at the chair where Madara sat, who chuckled darkly as he watched him. He closed his eyes tightly as he tried to chase away the agonizing sound that invaded his hearing, never leaving the sanctuary of his deeply tormented mind.

And now Madara achieved the most painful torture he can perform on Tenzo, and he was not sure on how to fight it.

He knows what is in his mind.

* * *

**A/N:** Ok, I'd like to thank the awesome KEEWA for going through this long thing and correcting all my grammar errors, so if you see any grammar errors, blame him, not me. Just Kidding. He's awesome he gave the chapter an overhaul that transformed it from rags to riches. He's not a fanfiction user by the way.

I know it was supposed to be a one shot but I read this book with a torture scene and it brought me back to this fic, and gave me the urge to write a second part... Which was I think even sadder. I don't hate Tenzou/Yamato. Note for the name change, I was writing another fic, and I got used to Tenzo, plus this was mostly Kakashi POV, and besides, Tenzo seems to be the name he is normally using when not undercover (even if I don't think it's his realy name, still...)

so... **Reviews please, pretty please.**


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